The present invention relates to a modular furniture system that utilizes a novel clip design to allow for infinite adjustment and placement of components or fixtures within the furniture system. More particularly, the furniture system incorporates grooved rails which are adapted for receiving the clips which releasably lock within the groove to provide a support surface for the components or fixtures thereby providing for customization of the furniture system.
Systems for arranging furniture and fixtures are well known, but often share the common drawback of being inconvenient to assemble and are limited in the number of configurations. For example, cabinet assemblies having vertically extending side support surfaces with multiple perforations or slots along the interior of the side surfaces allow for placement of fixtures such as shelving or drawers, but are limited in arrangement because of the fixed locations of the side surfaces and the slots. In addition, the means for attaching the fixtures to the support surfaces are often unable to withstand heavy loads and cannot be readily re-positioned without disassembling the entire system.
The use of rails having vertically extending grooves is also known for a variety of uses such as office furniture, home furnishings, or merchandising displays. The known systems, however, are lacking aesthetic appeal and convenience because the points of connection between components within the systems have visible physical fasteners and cannot be changed independently of other points of connection. For example, connections between grooved rails and fixtures have been accomplished by mounting a bracket between the lips of the grooved rails and then attaching the fixture to the bracket. The disadvantage of known brackets has been either the limitation of having to install the bracket from an end of the rail, or the limitation that the bracket is bulky and has multiple parts, such as buttons and springs. Accordingly, it is desirable to have a means for connecting a fixture to a rail that allows for installation of the connecting means at any point in the rail""s groove, yet have a compact size and relatively few components.
Further disadvantages of rail-based assemblies have been the way that the rails connect to support surfaces, such as walls, and the way that the rails connect to other rails. Both types of connections have included use of fasteners that are visible and provide a non-uniform appearance. Accordingly, it is desirable to have a rail-based assembly that connects rails to support surfaces and other rails in a manner that appears to be a single, solid construction.
In addition to furniture systems that mount to support surfaces, it is also known to have mobile furniture systems. The same drawbacks that exist in the fixed, mounted furniture systems also exist in the known mobile systems. The means for connecting the frame and fixtures to one another has been limited in adjustment and are undesirable aesthetically because fasteners are physically visible and not easily moved. Thus, it is desirable to have a mobile furniture system that has aesthetic appeal, yet practical convenience in terms of assembly and arrangement.
The fixtures mounted in or about furniture systems, particularly rail-based furniture systems, have been lacking in versatility because the means for mounting to the rails are not uniform for all fixtures in the furniture system. For example, shelving or boxes or drawers have required the use of different brackets or fasteners for being connected to the rails. In addition, known fixtures have been difficult to mount and un-mount from the rails. Accordingly, it is desirable to have fixtures that are adapted to be easily mounted within a rail-based furniture system and can be interchanged with other fixtures of the furniture system by using the same connection means for mounting the fixtures to the rails.
The present invention overcomes the problems of existing modular furniture systems by providing for easy adjustment, assembly, and interchangeability of the components of the system. The present furniture system includes a modular furniture system having at least one rail that has a grooved surface with a pair of internal lips, at least one clip adapted to cooperatively engage the grooved surface of the rail(s), a fastener for securing the clip(s) to the rail(s), and at least one fixture mounted over the clip(s) and onto the rail(s).
The clip(s) have a distal end, a proximal end, and a central disc disposed between the distal and proximal ends. The distal end has two arms situated opposite each other and forming a channel therebetween, and the proximal end has a fixture holding rod with an internal passage extending through the central disc into the channel. The fastener is dimensioned to pass through the internal passage and the channel to secure the clip(s) to the rail(s). As the fastener passes through the channel the arms are radially expanded against the internal lips of the grooved surface of the rail, thereby fixing the position of the clip in the rial.
Several fixtures can be used with the furniture system to provide a number of different configurations. The various fixtures, such as storage boxes, drawers, shelves, hanging rods, work surfaces, and white boards/pin boards, can be used with surface mounted furniture systems, mobile furniture systems, and furniture systems that are either integral parts of other pieces of furniture or stand alone systems.